Every business needs a host of data points and information for its daily operations. Losing access to any of these files may prove to be catastrophic to the organization. Disasters like natural calamities, human errors, or even cyber-attacks are often common threats that organizations face.
Not having a disaster recovery plan in place can lead to massive monetary loss, and reputational damage, in addition to data loss. In a recent survey, 40% of organizations said an hour of unplanned downtime could cost them anywhere between $1 million to $5 million. Therefore, it is of utmost importance for all establishments to have a well-crafted disaster recovery plan in place to help them resume operations within a reasonable period.
What is a disaster recovery plan?
It involves a set of pre-defined tools and procedures outlined to get an organization to resume business-critical operations after an unforeseen disaster. It aims to minimize the effect the disaster has on the business and reduce any downtime caused by it. It also ensures that the disaster-hit organization meets all compliance requirements and has set a structured path of recovery.
What do company leaders need to keep in mind while crafting an enterprise’s IT disaster recovery plan? Read on to find out:
Create an IT inventory: Stakeholders should have a complete list of all hardware, software, and infrastructure of the company. They should also have a clear idea of who to contact to get each of them up and running in the event of a disaster.
Designing a timeline: Define a realistic timeline to get each item back up and running. Create a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) for the organizations. RTO refers to the maximum amount of time the systems can afford to take before it recovers. RPO refers to the amount of time that has passed after the most recent data back up. This means that if a data backup happens every 48 hours, the disaster would have caused a loss of stored data in the last 48 hours.
Assigning responsibility: Define key roles and responsibilities of employees within the organization in the event of a disaster. Each part of the inventory must be taken care of by a particular set of stakeholders. Having clear communication right from the top-level executives to the team members detailing each person’s responsibility will help in a smooth recovery process.
Communication strategy: Company leaders need to draft an effective communications strategy to be used in case of emergencies. It is essential to communicate this to your employees as well as your customers. Employees also need to know what next, where they can access their data, and an approximate idea of how long it will take before things go back to normal.
Testing and updating plans: Once you have an effective IT disaster recovery plan in place, company stakeholders must test it to ensure that it is effective. Testing is an essential part of the plan. Therefore, it must also include a timeline for backs up and tests. The plan also needs to be updated periodically as newer changes get incorporated into the system.
If your enterprise does not have a disaster recovery plan in place, now is the time to craft one. Building a resilient IT disaster recovery plan is of paramount importance for every organization. To create an effective disaster recovery plan for your enterprise by performing necessary audits and planning for contingencies, contact an expert at Netlabs today.
